Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY: Golden Goddess
by ShadowCell
Summary: AU. The year is CE 73, and war has broken out anew between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs. Amid the traded fire, however, a revolution is coming to pass in the sheltered nation of Orb, fomented by the young survivors of the Valentine War...
1. Phase 01: Bittersweet

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY - Golden Goddess

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Disclaimer: _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ASTRAY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV _and _SEED DESTINY MSV_ are the property of Bandai and Sunrise, not me. I make no money off this little venture. This is purely for entertainment purposes, and no copyright infringement is intended.

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I think _Gundam SEED_ and, more specifically, _Gundam SEED DESTINY_ suck. I have made this known to people. Some of _DESTINY_'s most ardent fans have, in their own way, challenged me to do better.

So I will.

This fanfic covers a few plot holes left in my rewrite of _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY_, focusing on Athrun and Cagalli and their friends and foes. The events herein are nestled within the timeline spanned by _DESTINY_ itself, so reading this at the same time as you read, say, Phase 15 and Phase 16 of _DESTINY_ might be pertinent. This is meant to be a brief look at the characters at a different point in the timeline.

I will post a new chapter every Friday, or the soonest day thereafter should something arise on Friday to keep me from posting.

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Phase 01 - Bittersweet

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**November 6th, CE 73 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean**

Cagalli Yula Athha was not by nature an organized person, but even by her standards, her office had reached a new level of horror in disorganization.

Athrun Zala cast a weary eye over the array of papers, books, files, blueprints, maps, and a staggering collection of what he could only describe as _stuff_ littering the office, covering bookshelves, the desk, and in some parts, the floor.

To be fair, of course, some of this _stuff_ must have been knocked loose during a battle and Cagalli just had not gotten around to cleaning it up yet. That persistent _Archangel_-class that had chased them for most of June and July probably had something to do with this.

Cagalli herself stood before the mess, running her hands through her hair anxiously, her back to Athrun. He touched her shoulders gently—she whipped around in surprise, startling Athrun as well, staring at him with wide eyes for a moment.

"S-Sorry," she said awkwardly, relaxing only slightly.

"The operation is tomorrow at dawn," Athrun warned solemnly. "You have to calm down so you can lead the Loyalists."

Cagalli turned away, looking through the coating of maps and charts on the floor. Athrun watched uneasily, thinking that he should be doing more, but knowing that Cagalli most likely did not want help.

The Revolution was scheduled to begin tomorrow. Cagalli Yula Athha, the warrior princess of Orb, would return with five gleaming Gundams, a wing of battle-hardened Murasames, and a shining battleship, to lead the ragged guerilla fighters still loyal to the Athha family in a coup d'etat that would dethrone the Seirans. Cagalli was still immensely popular—surely the people would rise up to support them.

Or, at least, that was what everyone was banking on.

Cagalli emerged from the typhoon of loose papers with a large map of Orb's capital city, Aube. She swept her desk clean of everything on it and began to spread the map out on it. Athrun took her by the shoulders again, this time not letting her swivel around in surprise.

"You need to rest," he said authoritatively, wheeling her around towards the office door. "I have the battle plan committed to memory. Yzak does, Dearka does, Commander La Fllaga does, Commander Bartfeldt does, Captain Ramius does, _everyone_ does."

"Athrun, I've worked since July to get this thing going!" Cagalli protested, trying to halt herself and finding Athrun subtly overpowering her as he shoved her through the door. "I can't just leave it now! Every detail has to be in place!"

"You're the one who's going to lead it all," Athrun countered. "We have to have you at your fullest, and that means being fully rested and relaxed. Captain Ramius and Commander Bartfeldt can handle all the details."

Cagalli wrenched herself out of Athrun's grip and spun around to face him. "I can't do that!" she insisted. "I'm the leader, I have to take responsibility—"

"And part of that responsibility," Athrun interrupted, turning her around, "is being well-rested and well-fed enough to lead." He turned her down a corridor and shoved her towards the galley. "Now eat. I've been with you all day and you haven't eaten since last night."

"Athrun!" Cagalli sputtered.

The galley door opened and Athrun nudged Cagalli inside.

"Eat," he said, "and you'll be able to work better."

The few occupants of the galley sprang up from their seats to salute. Cagalli looked around helplessly and awkwardly returned their salutes.

"Alright," Cagalli said unhappily. "I'll take a break. A short break."

Without waiting for Athrun, Cagalli headed towards a vending machine. Athrun blinked in surprise—a moment later, a snicker caught his attention, and he turned towards the source of the familiar voice.

Dearka Elthman was slumped comfortably in his chair, feet propped up on the table. He offered Athrun an amused grin.

"Finally got your girlfriend out of her office, I see," he chuckled.

Cagalli quickly swept past Athrun with a soda can in hand, and was gone before he could register a protest. He blinked again helplessly as the door shut behind her, and Dearka snickered again.

"Unfortunately," he continued, "it looks like you missed your chance."

From nearby, Miriallia Haww glanced at Dearka and shrugged. "I don't think Athrun would do that," she said helpfully, glancing back at Athrun, looking for confirmation.

"I just want Cagalli to be in top condition for the operation," Athrun said, feeling defeated.

"I know sexual tension when I see it," Dearka scoffed.

"That's because you have so much experience with it," Miriallia shot back with a triumphant smirk, drawing a scowl out of Dearka.

Athrun shook his head and made his escape as Dearka tried to come up with a sassy retort.

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Murrue Ramius stretched her legs and groaned as she felt the muscles strain. She had been sitting in this damned chair for _far_ too long.

"You know," Mwu La Fllaga's amused voice said from near the back of the bridge, "it wouldn't kill you to get up and walk around every once in a while."

Murrue looked up as he came down along the bridge stairwell with his usual cheerful smile, a water bottle in hand. "I have to stay up here on the bridge and oversee everything," she said, feeling awkward, knowing that she was on the bridge but also knowing that she was talking to Mwu and could not easily enforce an air of military discipline between them. "You know that."

"Neumann doesn't need you to hold his hand," Mwu said with a shrug. He looked over at the helm. "Right, Neumann?"

Arnold Neumann hunched down closer to the _Megami_'s helm controls. "Leave me out of this," he muttered.

Murrue stood up and stretched her arms behind her back uncomfortably, staring out the bridge windows, at the calm afternoon sun reflected in the Pacific Ocean.

"Do you think we'll win at Orb?" she asked softly, looking over at Mwu, just loud enough for him to hear. His smile vanished.

"I don't know," he said with another shrug. "I'm just going to go out, give it my best, and hope that helps."

Murrue looked back at the ocean. "Cagalli's pushing herself hard," she said, a little louder.

"Yeah," Mwu agreed. "Just ask Athrun."

Murrue blinked and looked back at Mwu. "What do you mean?"

Mwu shrugged a third time. "Ask me again sometime," he said, taking a swig of water. "Anyways, Captain, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go play with the Strike some more." He turned and headed off the bridge.

Murrue sat back in the captain's chair, draping one leg over the other, and put her hand to her chin, deep in thought.

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Athrun ran through his mental checklist of things to do. He had the strategy committed to memory, but it would not hurt to go over it again. He had the Justice's systems prepared for battle, but it would not hurt to go over them one more time. He had already planned out his next meal and measured down to the second how much time he could allot himself to consume a small sandwich and a bottle of water—after all, he needed energy, but could not take so long to acquire such energy as to miss the reason why he was acquiring energy.

As he trotted towards the hangar, he paused at the sound of a familiar voice. He rounded a corner, and found Lacus Clyne in a doorway, looking shrunken and withdrawn in the protective embrace of Sai Argyle.

Athrun felt a blush rise to his face and turned to leave, but before he could, Sai and Lacus noticed him and awkwardly released each other.

"Athrun!" Sai exclaimed awkwardly. "What, uh, what are you doing here?"

Lacus looked at Athrun carefully as he momentarily fumbled for a response.

"I'm just going to the hangar," he said uneasily. "I'm, um, sorry for disturbing you."

He turned to leave, but Lacus glanced furtively at Sai and followed Athrun.

"Athrun," she said, as Athrun opened one of the hangar doors. Athrun turned around in surprise, and Lacus smiled politely at him. "We haven't talked in a while."

"...I've been busy," Athrun said cautiously. "I've been helping Cagalli set up the coup..."

"I know," Lacus said gently, "but you and Cagalli have been working very hard. It's starting to get worrisome."

"It will all pay off tomorrow," Athrun said, trying to sound confident. "We have to take back Orb from the Seirans, so that we can all have a country where we don't have to fight to stay alive."

"Are you alright?" Lacus asked suddenly. Athrun blinked and looked at her.

"I'm alright," he said, feeling defensive. "But..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind. I should go work on the Justice."

Athrun turned and disappeared into the hangar. Lacus watched him go in surprise; Sai walked up next to her.

"Is Athrun alright?" Sai asked, watching Athrun as he climbed up into the Justice's cockpit.

"Only Athrun knows that," Lacus said quietly.

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"Kisaka reports that he has nineteen M1s in position to the north," Andrew Bartfeldt said, towering above Cagalli in her dismally messy office, maps and reports in hand. Cagalli sat at her desk, poring over more maps and more reports.

"Nineteen?!" Cagalli exclaimed, looking up with wide eyes. "I thought he had thirty!"

"Kisaka had twenty-five," Andy corrected, easily and patiently. "He lost six yesterday during an ambush."

"Dammit," Cagalli growled. "That means we lost fighting strength in the northeast quadrant." She heaved a sigh. "This whole thing is coming apart already."

"No it's not," Andy said, attempting to be encouraging. "We still have almost two hundred mobile suits in place to attack Aube, and we may be able to convince some of the Orb army to defect."

Cagalli stared despairingly at one particular part of the map of Aube. "I'll take the Strike Rouge and attack the National Defense Headquarters," she said. Andy blinked in surprise.

"By yourself?" he asked. Cagalli shook her head.

"I'll take Athrun with me," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Only Athrun?" Andy asked, pressingly.

"Who else is there to take?!" Cagalli asked desolately, looking up imploringly at Andy. "I need you and Commander La Fllaga to direct the Murasames, and I need Yzak and Dearka to clear a path to the Assembly Building!"

"Of course," Andy said easily, "but what do you hope to do at the National Defense Headquarters with only yourself and Athrun?"

"I don't know," Cagalli said unhappily. "But we have to do something. Maybe we can take over the military from there. We have to do more than just stand there and play cheerleader."

"There's only so much you _can_ do," Andy said. Cagalli looked up in surprise at him. "Athrun is a good pilot with a powerful machine, but he's already committed to protecting you. You have the Strike Rouge and you can hold your own in a fight, but the Strike Rouge isn't exactly cutting-edge anymore. We have enough trouble with our Gundams as is, even with all the upgrades we pumped into them at Heliopolis."

Cagalli looked back down at the map. Andy held back a sigh.

"I hate not being able to do anything," Cagalli muttered. "I'm setting this entire thing up, now I have to fight in it and make it work."

"That's why you're going out at all," Andy said. Cagalli looked back up at him. "Most people who organize these kinds of things only come in and take the reins of power after all the fighting's over." He unfolded another map. "Now, stop worrying about that and I'll show you what Lieutenant Kuramoto set up at the port..."

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Yzak Jule glanced tiredly up at the slumbering Duel Gundam from the boarding gantry, as the Assault Shroud was fitted back on. The Duel had a lighter set of Assault Shroud armor, but it was still heavier than the rest of the Orb Raiders' mobile suits, even Athrun's—and the Justice Gundam had that giant backpack and everything.

"We've done about all we can do," Kojiro Murdoch said wearily as he climbed out of the Duel's cockpit. "It's as lightweight and responsive as it'll ever get with that Assault Shroud on." He wiped his oily hands off on a grimy rag. "Maybe you should get something to eat."

Yzak looked down at the ream of papers in his hand. The lists of output statistics from the Duel's thrusters were starting to blur together, and his stomach registered a protest of its own.

"Don't push yourself too hard, kid," Murdoch warned, doing his best to put a paternal a hand on Yzak's shoulder. Yzak almost jumped in surprise. "You and Dearka are gonna be in an important spot tomorrow."

"I know," Yzak said, a tad more testily than he would have liked. Murdoch might have been a bit overbearing at times, but he was always looking out for the pilots' best interests—Yzak just had to remember that.

"Just go take a break and get something to eat," Murdoch said, smiling. "God knows we all need to put the tools down and relax for a bit anyways."

Yzak looked back up at the Duel. "The Duel has to be in perfect condition for the battle tomorrow," he said resolutely.

"So do you," Murdoch countered. "Go eat. We'll take care of this thing for you."

Yzak sighed and surrendered his lists of thruster outputs, before heading off down the gantry, towards the galley.

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**Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Pacific Ocean**

A wicked smile spread over the face of Jona Roma Seiran as he sat back in the captain's chair on the _Takemikazuchi_'s bridge, reports in hand.

"The Princess is planning to attack Aube tomorrow," he said amusedly, "and launch her little coup d'etat."

From nearby, Captain Todaka's eyes widened in disbelief, and he stopped directing the bridge crew to turn and stare in shock at Jona.

"The Princess?!" he echoed disbelievingly. Jona smirked over at the shocked officer.

"The Princess," he repeated. "She's a rapacious little thing, isn't she?" He glanced back at the report. "The Athha family loyalists are finally making their move."

Todaka said nothing. Jona, of course, knew exactly why—Todaka himself was a man torn between his sympathies for the Athha family and their warrior princess, and his duty to the current rulers of Orb and the citizens of Orb. So long as he remained torn between those two masters, Jona knew he had Todaka under control. Todaka turned slowly back towards the bridge, as the men around the bridge stared in stunned silence at Jona.

"Will we be recalled to Orb?" Todaka asked quietly. Jona smiled. Todaka knew his place.

"Not yet," Jona said, glancing up at Todaka and casting a look over the bridge. "All intelligence indicates that the forces protecting Aube should be sufficient to crush the attackers."

The bridge went sullenly back to its work. Jona sat back and smiled at it all. The men were torn, and Jona knew exactly why. Cagalli was the heroine, the warrior princess that the men adored...and yet here she was, fighting against them, fighting against the government they had sworn to serve, fighting against the people they had sworn to protect. And yet she was the Princess, the Goddess of Victory, the shining symbol of Orb. What to do? What to think?

Jona silently thanked his good fortune for giving him a foolish little girl for an opponent. This was easier than infanticide.

"The _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet," he began loudly, catching Todaka's attention, "will continue pursuit of the _Megami_." He smiled. "The terrorists will be defeated at Aube. And when they try to retreat, we will be there."

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**Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean**

The ocean breeze was cool and comforting as Athrun emerged onto the _Megami_'s open-air deck. He was in search of Mwu, who was reportedly on the deck. He stopped in surprise as he found Mwu and Andy leaning against the deck, piping mugs of coffee in hand.

"I still want to know where you got enough beans for a cup of joe," Mwu said, shaking his head. "We haven't been in port for weeks."

"Any true coffee enthusiast maintains an ample supply of coffee beans of any type for any situation," Andy shot back with mock snobbery.

"Um, Commander La Fllaga," Athrun began uneasily. Mwu and Andy turned in surprise and lifted their mugs cheerfully towards Athrun. "Cagalli wanted to talk to you about—"

"Tell Cagalli to take a break," Mwu interrupted, turning back towards the ocean.

Athrun looked sullenly at the deck. "I tried," he said quietly. Andy arched a knowing eyebrow as he took a sip of coffee.

"Well," Mwu answered, "try harder. It won't do us any good if she has a stroke from overworking before the operation."

"I know," Athrun said, defeated, "but she won't listen."

"Does she ever?" Andy asked, turning around to face Athrun and leaning back against the railing. "For what it's worth, I tried to convince her to take it easy, and she ignored me too."

Mwu sighed. "What does she want me for, then?" he asked resignedly, turning around as well.

"She wanted to talk about your half of the Murasame squadron," Athrun said. "She thinks—"

"How're you holding up, Athrun?" Andy asked suddenly. Athrun blinked in surprise and looked between Mwu and Andy.

"Wha—what do you mean?" he asked helplessly.

"Pretty simple question," Mwu said, pausing for another sip of coffee. "Your girlfriend is driving herself into the ground for a purpose larger than all of us, and while you support that purpose, you also want to save her from the self-destruct sequence she's putting herself through."

Athrun looked anxiously between the two men, feeling helpless and vulnerable, and none too pleased that he had been so easily figured out.

"Good way of putting it," Andy said with a chuckle, raising his mug approvingly.

"So?" Mwu asked, looking inquisitively at Athrun. "Talk."

"C-Commander, I—" Athrun began.

"If it makes you feel better, we won't tell her," Andy added, sharing a smirk with Mwu. Athrun felt himself blush and looked in defeat at the deck again.

"All the angst on this ship is starting to get annoying," Mwu said. "I'll lock you two in a room with all of Dearka's porn if I have to, but for Christ's sake, both of you, _lighten the hell up_. You're kids. You can't do everything. Let the adults do some stuff. That's what we're for."

Andy looked inquisitively at Mwu. "And how do _you_ know about Dearka's porn?"

Mwu glanced back at Andy and took an indifferent sip of coffee. "What can I say? Kid needs to remember to lock his freaking door."

"Commander—" Athrun began again, before cutting himself short. "I...I'll just tell Cagalli that you're busy."

He turned and made a hasty escape before Mwu and Andy could stop him. Andy shook his head with a sigh.

"When we finally push the Seirans from power," he said, "I hope there's enough left of that kid to enjoy it."

Mwu leaned back against the railing. "Fighting for a place where you don't have to fight anymore is all well and good," he said, "but they're starting to forget why they're fighting in the first place."

Andy nodded in agreement, taking another sip of coffee. "And that," he said quietly, "is why _we_ are fighting."

Mwu sighed. "Someone's gotta screw their heads back on right."

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"What do you mean 'busy?!'" Cagalli roared, her hands coming down onto the desk with a frightening crash. "We have work to do! What could he possibly be doing?"

"Cagalli—" Athrun began helplessly. Cagalli sat back in her chair, groaning and wringing her hands through her hair.

"Dammit," she grunted, "I need Mwu's half of the squadron to support Colonel Yamamoto's mobile suits—"

"Cagalli," Athrun interrupted, feeling strangely bold, "don't worry about it."

Cagalli blinked and looked back at him in surprise. "What do you mean 'don't worry about it?'" she asked, sitting up. "Athrun, I'm the _leader_, I'm _supposed_ to—"

"You can't do it all by yourself," Athrun countered, feeling unsteady but knowing that he was committed now. "Commander La Fllaga and Commander Bartfeldt are experienced commanders. They'll know what to do tomorrow." He circled around the desk and took Cagalli by the shoulders, forcing himself to ignore her protests. "You need to eat and you need to rest, or else you'll be in no condition to go out tomorrow. Part of your responsibility as the leader is to keep yourself in a condition to lead."

"Athrun— " Cagalli began angrily. She sighed resignedly as Athrun put too much distance between her and her desk to get anything done. "You know I've worked hard to get this going— "

"And what's the point if there's nothing left of us to do anything _afterwards_?" another agitated voice added.

Athrun and Cagalli looked in surprise at the door, finding Dearka Elthman standing there, arms crossed, looking annoyed. Not far away, Miriallia sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh yeah," Dearka added sarcastically, straightening up and saluting. "_Commander_."

"Wha— what the hell are you talking about?!" Cagalli demanded, shoving Athrun aside and glaring at Dearka. "We're not doing this for ourselves! We're doing it for— "

"What's the point of leading a revolution to return the Athha family to power if the only Athha left is too burnt out to lead the country?" Dearka shot back. Cagalli broke off, speechless. "I never thought I'd live to see this, but Athrun is for once the voice of reason here. There's no point in fighting for a better world if you can't realize when the world is any better."

Dearka stormed off in disgust. Cagalli glanced back at Athrun; he only shook his head and left.

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The sun was finally beginning to set, and Athrun found it comforting as he stepped onto the deck, into a breeze that was considerably cooler. It was a remarkable sight, but Athrun was used to the sun and its lazy shimmering reflection. He walked up to the railing and leaned against it tiredly. Mwu and Andy were at least partially right— _someone_ needed a break.

There was a pall of smoke rising up from an island on the horizon, and for a moment, Athrun heard the dull roar of explosions. But it was very far away— even with his enhanced Coordinator vision, he had to squint to see it. It was definitely a battle of some kind— given the proximity to Carpentaria, it was probably ZAFT and the Earth Alliance trading blows on a tiny, insignificant island. But it was too far to affect the _Megami_ as it sailed lazily towards Orb.

_Somewhere, out there,_ he thought, _Kira's fighting._

He remembered his old friend, apparently now his bitter enemy, on the cherry-red surface of Junius 7 as it plunged through the Earth's atmosphere. The Freedom Gundam stood above him, beam saber drawn and pointed at him; Kira screamed accusations at him.

He shook his head. Had he really killed that girl, Fllay Allster? He couldn't have; he could see it all clearly in his head. He watched himself line up to fire at Rau Le Creuset's Providence Gundam, he opened fire…and Rau skirted aside, letting the shot plow into a tiny escape shuttle. And one explosion later, Fllay Allster was dead, and Kira once again was after Athrun's blood.

But hadn't they moved past that? They had both fought to the death in the Marshall Islands, where Athrun had launched to have revenge for Nicol's death. In the heat of battle, he smashed a fighter and killed one of Kira's friends, and in their mutual bloodlust, Athrun sacrificed the Aegis to finally kill Kira. And it had failed— somehow Kira had survived the point-blank self-destruction of a mobile suit. Somehow Athrun had survived too. Neither of them could die that day— they had been saved, somehow, for a special purpose. And Lacus Clyne brought them together for that purpose, to stand in defense of Orb…and when that failed, to join Lacus in trying to end the war. They had fought, they had battled, they had _believed_…and in the end, it had all gone back to the way it was that one day in the Marshall Islands. They had been friends, but now they were enemies. Kira had spent two years alive, in the clutches of ZAFT, his strings held tight by Rau Le Creuset. Now he was ZAFT's tool; now he was Rau's tool. Now Kira Yamato, as Athrun and Lacus and Cagalli knew him, was gone.

Athrun looked ahead, in the direction the _Megami_ was sailing. Orb was in that direction; it was a speck of darkness on the horizon, but it was there. There they would fight against the Seirans, the wicked rulers that had turned Orb from a paradisiacal haven into a base player in the dirty games of international politics. They would be overthrown, Cagalli would take over, Cagalli would return things back to the way they were, and Orb would once again be a haven. It would be a place where they didn't have to fight, where they didn't have to kill each other's friends, where evil mask-wearing lunatics couldn't ruin friendships for personal amusement. It would be a place where they could be safe; a world they wouldn't have to protect.

It was what Kira would have wanted.

Athrun clenched his fists. Kira Yamato was dead now; that was what he had to think. Kira was dead…and so Athrun was fighting in his memory.

He stood up and headed back inside. Tomorrow would be the day when Kira's work would be finished.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Dearka Elthman heaved a sigh as he leaned against the wall of the _Megami_'s observation deck, staring at the ocean. Milly stood next to him, silent.

"Well," Dearka said quietly, shrugging, "someone was gonna say it at some point anyways."

"What kind of reason is that?" Milly asked, eyeing him in surprise. He shrugged again.

"We all need a kick in the ass to get us back into the real world," he said, standing up. "I could live without all of Athrun's angst, though."

Milly smiled. "I bet you were the same way when you were younger," she said teasingly. Dearka smirked.

"You don't wanna know how I was when I was younger," he replied. "Besides, I'm not like that now and that's all that counts."

Milly sighed and paused for a moment. "So do you think we'll win tomorrow?" she asked.

Dearka looked back at her and sighed himself. "I'm trying not to think about whether or not we'll win tomorrow," he said. "I'm just going to go out and fight. Like I always do."

Milly looked dourly at him. "So in other words," she said, "you think we'll lose."

Dearka arched an eyebrow at her. "And what do _you_ think?" he asked.

"I think we'll do fine," she said. "We have good pilots, good commanders, good weapons, and the support of the people." She smiled. "You have to count your blessings, not your curses."

Dearka leaned back against the wall. "We'll see," he said quietly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Athrun was still on the deck as the sky turned a brilliant shade of pink and the sun dipped below the horizon. He glanced over at the deck door as it opened, and found Lacus Clyne making her way out.

"Athrun," she began, polite but still sounding somewhat surprised. "I thought you were asleep."

Athrun shook his head and looked back out at the pink sky. "I know," he said, "but I can't sleep right now."

"Why is that?" Lacus asked, coming up next to him and putting a hand on the rail.

"I'm still thinking about what we're doing," Athrun said somberly. "I keep thinking back to what happened when Junius 7 fell…when I met Kira again."

Lacus' face did not change, but her eyes flickered for a moment. Athrun fumbled and tried to spit out a ready-made apology, but Lacus shook her head before he could.

"I suppose everyone is thinking about it," Lacus admitted, looking off towards the sky. "After all, we all thought we had moved on and put his death behind us." She shook her head. "But we mustn't let this unfortunate circumstance stop us from finding our place in the world." She looked back at Athrun. "Kira has lost his way, but he'll find it again, one way or another. It is up to us to create the haven that the path he finds will take him to."

"We're doing this for Kira?" Athrun asked, looking at her in surprise.

"We're doing this for everyone who is like Kira," Lacus answered with a kind smile. "We're doing this for everyone who fights because there is no place where they don't have to; for everyone who fights because they know no other way. We must create a place where there _is_ another way." She turned to face him. "And that is why we need your help, so you can help erect this place where Kira will be healed."

Athrun nodded slowly. "Then we'll fight for Kira," he said.

"Yes," Lacus agreed, and for the first time, Athrun saw tears in her eyes. "For Kira."

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To be continued…


	2. Phase 02: The Goddess of Victory

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY - Golden Goddess

Phase 02 - The Goddess of Victory

**November 7th, CE 73 - Aube, United Emirates of Orb**

The missiles came down with a blaze of fire, and with a shout, Athrun Zala rocketed over the smashed lines of Orb's M1 Astrays. They were still getting back to their feet; none of them could open fire as the Justice Gundam blasted over their heads towards the imposing girth of the Orb National Defense Headquarters.

On the Justice's subflight lifter, the Aile Striker-equipped Strike Rouge picked off another Astray with its bazooka. Inside, Cagalli glanced down anxiously at the Justice.

"We have a fifteen minute window," she said urgently.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Athrun answered. Another Astray popped up from behind a building; Athrun blew its head off with his beam rifle and sent the rest of the mobile suit tumbling backwards. "Captain Ramius says everything is going according to plan so far," he added.

"So far," Cagalli said dourly. "Let's hurry up so things don't have a chance to go bad."

Yzak grunted as the Duel landed with a crash, and he took cover behind the Duel's shield. An Astray came charging in, beam saber raised— Yzak deflected its saber stroke with his shield and took it down with a point-blank railgun shot. He dove aside to dodge another beam shot, and up above, the Buster Gundam shot down a second Astray with its beam cannon.

Yzak glanced over his shoulder, taking cover behind a building. He looked down the street— it was a long, wide thoroughfare that passed the Orb assembly building, and it was teeming with Astrays. A blue-painted Loyalist Astray ducked out from behind cover and managed to squeeze off a beam shot, beheading an Orb Astray down the street, but a wave of beam fire tore it apart a moment later. Yzak snarled a curse and deflected a volley of beams with his shield.

"We're not going to get anywhere like this!" he shouted angrily, pausing to fire a missile volley back at the Orb mobile suits. He looked up over his shoulder, finding the Buster dropping down behind him.

"We'll have to shoot our way through all that," Dearka said breathlessly, as the Buster hunkered down behind another building. Yzak squeezed off a beam rifle shot and ducked back behind cover, as the Astray he had hit exploded. "Flying over it won't be an option; the Seirans have too many Murasames overhead. We'd just get sucked into a dogfight."

"Where the hell are _our_ Murasames?!" Yzak snapped. "I thought Fllaga and Bartfeldt would take care of them!"

"They're pinned down at the docks," Dearka answered dourly, "so we're pretty much on our own." He paused. "Cover me, I'll clear us a path."

The Buster and Duel dove out into the street, and Yzak opened fire with a furious beam rifle volley. The Orb mobile suits down the street took cover behind their shields; the Buster combined its guns and leapt out from behind the Duel, firing its hyper impulse rifle down the street and tearing through six Astrays as they tried to block the blast with their shields.

"It's a start," Dearka grunted, detaching his guns and diving back behind cover with the Duel. "Give it thirty seconds and I'll try it again."

"This is a disaster," Yzak growled. An Astray vaulted up over the building tops, beam saber raised— Yzak cut it down with a railgun shot and sent the broken mobile suit's corpse slamming into the street. "We don't even have half of what we need to attack this place."

"Well, we'll have to make do with what we _do_ have," Dearka said. "ZAFT had control of half the Earth within one year, and they were outnumbered ten to one."

"Yeah, and look where ZAFT was a year later," Yzak shot back. "Go!"

The Duel leapt back out from behind the building, opening fire again. Dearka combined his guns and fired another blast down the street, taking down eight more unlucky Astrays.

"Good enough!" Dearka shouted. "Let's go!"

The Duel and Buster took off, the Loyalist Astrays right behind them.

"We're not getting anywhere!" Mwu shouted, as the Aile Strike Gundam pitched dizzyingly out of the sky to avoid a squadron of furious Murasames. "And I'm all out of genius plans! What about you, Andy?!"

"If 'fight like hell' is a genius plan, then we're doing it!" Andy answered; up above, the Aegis slithered out of a storm of beam fire and transformed to its mobile armor mode, wiping out two Murasames in one blast from its Scylla cannon. The Aegis returned to its mobile suit mode to bat away another beam shot and return fire with its beam rifle.

"Dammit," Mwu grunted— he whipped around and shot down a charging Shrike Astray with his beam rifle, dodging more beam shots from a trio of Murasames. "Fllaga team! Focus your fire on the enemy Murasames! The Shrikes aren't that threatening!"

"We have to cover Yzak and Dearka!" Andy shouted. "It won't be long before they get pinned down from above!"

"What about Athrun and Cagalli?" Mwu yelled back, as he dove out of the way of a Murasame squadron and shot down the left-hand machine.

Andy scowled in frustration. "They're on their own!"

**Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Pacific Ocean**

Jona Roma Seiran smiled as the reports filtered by. The Orb Raiders had attacked, along with the meager forces of the Athha family loyalists hiding out in and around the United Emirates of Orb. The Athha loyalists were putting up a tough fight for now, but Jona knew better— it would only be a matter of time before they collapsed.

"How long until we reach Orb territory?" Jona asked loudly.

"Three hours sir," the helmsman asked. Jona nodded.

"Increase to flank," he said, "and order the same of the fleet."

At Jona's side, Todaka blinked in surprise. "Admiral," he said, "we're already running at 115 percent on the reactors."

"Then give me 120," Jona said with a shrug. "Our homeland is under attack, Captain. Should that not spur you on?"

Todaka hesitated a moment; Jona smirked back. At last, Todaka turned around. "All ships, increase to flank!" he ordered.

Jona sat back, crossing his arms. Today was the day where all would see just what the goddess of victory was truly capable of.

**Aube, United Emirates of Orb**

The Justice Gundam landed with a crash behind the safety of a skyscraper, lunging out of the path of a storm of beam fire. Nearby, the Strike Rouge landed behind the Justice and ejected an empty clip from its bazooka.

"Where is our air cover?!" Cagalli growled, as a Seiran Murasame deposited a volley of missiles into the Justice's shield. "Dammit, where the hell are Mwu and Andy?!"

"They're pinned down at the docks," Athrun answered, pausing to shoot down the Murasame as it came around for another attack. "We underestimated the Seirans' positions here!"  
An explosion split the air overhead, and a blue-painted Shrike Astray staggered out of the air in flames. Cagalli cursed under her breath. "They must have known we were coming!"

A Seiran Astray leapt up from behind another building nearby— Cagalli squeezed off a shot from her bazooka and sent the Astray reeling, and a moment later, Athrun finished it off with a beam rifle shot.

"We shouldn't hang around here," Athrun said gravely. "We can't hold out here by ourselves, and we still have to get to the National Defense Headquarters!" 

"I know!" Cagalli shot back. Another volley of missiles came down nearby, but Athrun cut them out of the air with a CIWS burst before they could hit and scanned the skies urgently. "Look," Cagalli said, "you cover me while I make a run for the front entrance."

"The front entrance?!" Athrun echoed in disbelief. "Are you mad? That's the place they'll be guarding the most heavily!"

"We have to get in somehow!" Cagalli shouted back.

"There's better ways than _that!_" Athrun snapped. "If you're going to do something, do it right!" Cagalli blinked in surprise, falling silent. "You make a run for the front door and they'll kill you! I'm not about to let that happen! If you want to get in there, we'll get in there, but we're not doing it the suicidal way! Got it?!"

Cagalli was silent a moment. "…yeah," she said quietly. Athrun returned his attention to the skies, as a squadron of Murasames came storming towards them.

"We can get in through an underwater passage," he continued. "We're only attacking by land and air, so I doubt they're prepared for an underwater battle. We just have to get across to the harbor."

"Mwu and Andy are supposed to be covering us from the air," Cagalli growled.

"But they're not," Athrun countered, "so we'll have to get creative." He glanced to the side— there was a dilapidated, beam-riddled skyscraper threatening to topple over near the Seiran lines. Athrun looked up and opened fire on the incoming Murasame squadron, forcing their numbers apart and sending two of the Murasames plummeting helplessly to the ground. "Shoot at that skyscraper," Athrun instructed. "I'll cover you!"

"But Athrun— " Cagalli began.

"If you've got a better idea, feel free to share it!" Athrun cut her off. "Otherwise, get going!"

The Strike Rouge leapt out from behind cover, while Athrun let loose a vicious burst of beam fire towards the Seiran mobile suits. Cagalli aimed carefully at the building's crumbling foundation and fired off three shells before ducking back behind cover. The skyscraper toppled over with a deep rumble, and a pall of dust rose up over the battlefield.

"Come on!" Athrun shouted. The Justice seized the Strike Rouge's hand and pulled it out into the dust. The Seiran mobile suits were fleeing desperately as the skyscraper toppled down onto their lines, and Athrun and Cagalli slipped past easily in the confusion. Athrun wheeled around in front of the harbor, firing a volley of machinegun and beam fire towards the Seiran forces to keep them further off balance, and glanced at Cagalli over his shoulder. "Get into the water! I'll be there in a second!"

The Strike Rouge leapt into the ocean, and Athrun turned back around, finding the survivors in the Seiran mobile suit force shambling towards him, weapons raised. He glanced to his left and caught sight of a massive fuel tank— Athrun leapt backwards, over the water, and cut the tank apart with a volley of machinegun fire. He dove into the water just as a massive fireball consumed the Seiran mobile suits.

"We could sink the entire fleet from here," Cagalli said, as the Strike Rouge touched down at the bottom of the harbor.

"That's not our job," Athrun said. "Follow me. We'll go up inside, clear out a hangar, and set down there." The Justice set down on the harbor floor and began to tramp across the ground towards a massive circular airlock door. 

The Duel Gundam staggered back from the blow of an artillery shell and ducked behind the relative safety of a skyscraper. Inside, Yzak hissed a curse— the Seirans had reinforced their positions in front of the Assembly building, and called in enough artillery to stop the Duel and Buster in their tracks. The Loyalist Astrays had taken cover behind buildings and wreckage long ago, while the two Gundams tried to press valiantly on. But Phase Shift armor, it seemed, could only take so much damage, and Yzak was in no mood to see how much more it could take before giving out.

"We're going to need to stop all that artillery somehow," Dearka grunted, as the Buster slid to safety behind a skyscraper. "Maybe someone can distract the batteries?"

"That someone won't last long," Yzak countered, as the ground shook from a nearby impact. "And we still have a ways to go."

A Loyalist Astray up ahead of the two Gundams leapt out of cover, trying to hurl a grenade towards the artillery line; a barrage of shells and beam fire slashed the mobile suit to pieces, and the arm collapsed at the foot of the wreckage, grenade still clasped in its hand. Yzak and Dearka tried to shout out a warning, but it was no use— a massive blast ripped its way across the street, and a skyscraper next to the blast tilted dangerously over the street.

"We're going to do more damage than good to this country at this rate," Dearka growled. He blinked in surprise. "Watch out!" 

The two Gundams and the remaining Loyalist Astrays backed away as the skyscraper finally came down with a crash, throwing up a veil of dust and smoke over the battlefield.

"Do you think we can make it?" Dearka asked, glancing urgently at Yzak.

"We'll have to," Yzak muttered. "All units, follow us!"

The Duel and Buster vaulted up over the fallen tower, landing with a crash and activating their infrared sensors. Yzak scowled at the lines of artillery and opened fire with a full blast from every ranged weapon on his machine, while Dearka unleashed a volley of missiles on the artillery lines. A chain of explosions blew the cannons apart, and the missiles sent the Seiran Astrays reeling back.

"Go!" Dearka shouted, the Buster waving frantically to the Loyalist Astrays. "Before they recover!"

The Loyalists opened fire, cutting through the Seirans' lines. Yzak glanced back at Dearka.

"What are Zala and Cagalli doing?" he asked angrily, firing a beam rifle shot through the haze and taking down a Seiran Astray down the street.

"They're still trying to get into the National Defense Headquarters," Dearka answered, pausing to duck under a beam blast from another enemy Astray. "Commander Bartfeldt says they went underwater."

"What do they think they can do there?" Yzak snarled, deflecting a volley of beams with his shield and firing back. "All units, let's go!"

"Are they insane?!" Mwu snapped, as the Aile Strike Gundam dove backwards dizzyingly. "Half of our force is getting shredded on the ground, and the other half is getting shredded in the air! We can't hold out much longer like this!"

"Well, talking sense into Cagalli has never been one of Athrun's strong points," Andy grunted back, as the Aegis Gundam took four beam shots to its shield and fired back with its rifle, picking a Murasame off as it swung around to flank him. "Yzak and Dearka are going for the assembly building!"

"We've got to get over there one way or another!" Mwu shouted, as the Aile Strike wheeled around and shot down a charging Shrike Astray. "Murasames, form up in Delta Zero formation! Andy, we'll have to try _that_ maneuver!"

"_That_ maneuver?!" Andy asked, his face lighting up in delight. "About damn time!" He glanced over his shoulder. "Alright boys, all those hours in the simulator will have to pay off today!" The Orb Raider Murasames swung around, lining up in a staggered formation behind the Strike and Aegis.

"Shrike Astrays, ascend over the battlefield! We'll distract the enemy Murasames, and you can move in and support the Duel and Buster!" Mwu added. "All Murasame units, we're doing this one by the book!"

The Murasames swept in behind the Strike and the Aegis— the combined formation took off with a flash, shrieking forward at top speed. The Murasames opened fire with their beam rifles and cannons, as the formation streaked in low over the dock, tearing down Seiran Astrays as they tried to take cover behind their shields. The Murasames shrieked over the battlefield— up ahead, their enemy counterparts tried to open fire, unleashing a wave of missiles, but the Orb Raiders machines returned fire with a storm of CIWS fire, blasting through the smoke and slicing through the attackers.

"We're almost there!" Mwu shouted. Up ahead, a tower of smoke rose into the sky from the street in front of the assembly building— he watched Yzak's Duel somersault into the air, pounding the Seiran troops below with a beam rifle volley before gravity dragged him back down.

"Break formation!" Andy ordered— the Murasames rocketed apart as a wave of beam fire from the Seiran troops flashed through the air. The Aegis roared down toward the ground, igniting the beam saber on its right leg and ripping a charging Shrike Astray in half with a scything kick.

The Aegis landed with a crash on the top of an office tower and picked off two Astrays down below before it took off again. Mwu darted own into the street, firing down at the Seiran forces with his beam rifle before lunging back up into the air.

"It's about damn time you showed up," Yzak grunted— the Duel staggered back as a volley of beam shots landed against its shield. "They're pinning us down here!"

"Murasames! Air support, now!" Mwu snapped, as the Strike picked off a Seiran Murasame of its own. The Murasames swept in over the Seiran Astrays' heads, pounding them with missiles.

"There's only so much we can do down here," Dearka added, pausing to fire his hyper impulse cannon down the street, smashing through three more Astrays. "Where are Athrun and Cagalli?!"

The ground shook as Athrun's grenade blasted the doors open, sending two twisted sheets of steel clattering down the halls. A squad of Orb soldiers backed away as Athrun himself burst through the smoke, assault rifle spewing rounds that went ricocheting down the metal walls.

"Where _are_ we?!" Cagalli shouted through the din, as Athrun somersaulted up over the Orb troops' heads, emptying his rifle into their ranks from above as he sailed through the air. He landed deftly, seizing another assault rifle and tossing his empty one to the side.

"It looks like some kind of access tunnel," Athrun said. "I guess they use this in the event of emergencies."

"But we have to get to the command center!" Cagalli protested. Athrun checked the clip and liberated another four cartridges of ammunition from the bodies. "If there's any place where we could take control, it'll be there!"

"Of course it will," Athrun said, casting a weary glance down the hall. "But that doesn't mean they're going to listen." He blinked in surprise, as his accelerated hearing picked something up. "Wait— "

A sliding door at the end of the hall came crashing down, and Athrun and Cagalli stared in disbelief as a linear tank crunched its way into the hallway.

"A _tank?!_" Cagalli exclaimed.

"Look out!" cried Athrun, tackling her to the ground as the tank opened fire. A shell smashed into the wall behind them, and the blast sent them tumbling forward. "Dammit!" Athrun grunted, skidding to a halt and putting himself between the armored monster and Cagalli. "Are they insane?! They'll cave the whole tunnel in if they do that again!"

The tank's hatches opened, and soldiers wielding machineguns popped out, leveling off their weapons at Athrun. He narrowed his eyes, seizing Cagalli by the arm and diving aside as the soldiers opened fire.

"What is _wrong_ with them?!" Cagalli screamed. "They're going to bring the whole building down!"

The linear tank's cannon boomed again, smashing into the wall. Athrun and Cagalli dove aside, shielding their heads as flaming debris rained down around them. Athrun looked up in frustration at the sound of creaking support beams. The tank slowly began to back away into the side passage it had burst out of. He looked back towards the shattered wall, noting an exposed room on the other side.

"Come on!" Athrun barked, seizing Cagalli by the hand and darting forward, towards the ruined wall and diving through the opening. The tunnel came down behind them with a blinding plume of dust— together they stumbled forward, onto a large open platform. Athrun's eyes darted around furiously, scanning for cover and enemies— something caught his eye, and he looked up in surprise— 

"What the hell is _that?_" he grunted, squeezing his eyes shut as a blinding light flashed into his eyes. He squinted up at it painfully.

"It's…" Cagalli began, "…a _mobile suit_…?"

A blazing golden machine, with a modified frame of the Strike and the face of a Gundam, sporting a winged backpack, stood before them surrounded in wires and pipes and a thin metal gantry holding it in place.

"It's not like an Astray or a Murasame," said Athrun, blinking and shielding his eyes from the glare off the machine's brilliant armor. "It's like…a gold-plated Strike, or something."

"But…what is it doing here?" Cagalli growled. "Is this supposed to be some new model?!"

Athrun's headset beeped; he tapped the receive button in annoyance, turning away from the blinding machine. "This is Zala, what is it?"

"You bastard, where the hell have you been?!" Athrun winced in pain as Yzak's furious voice exploded from the speaker. "We're getting torn apart out here! Hurry the fuck up!"

"We can't get up to the command center," Athrun answered testily. "A tank attacked us in the access tunnels underground. We're in a mobile suit hangar."

"What?!" Mwu's voice cut in. "A _mobile suit_ hangar?! And there's no one there?!"

"It looks like nobody is _supposed_ to be in here," Athrun replied, looking around. There was a large hatch in the ceiling of the cavernous hangar, but other than that, no conceivable way that this could be a facility intended for frequent use. "Everything's too nicely polished anyway." He blinked. "Especially the mobile suit."

"There's a mobile suit in there?" Mwu asked anxiously. "A new model?"

"I've never seen one like it before." Athrun glanced over at Cagalli. "What are we going to do?"

"That doesn't matter! Get out of there!" Mwu snapped. Athrun and Cagalli both blinked in surprise, turning to listen to Mwu's insistent voice. "We've sustained too many casualties! The Seiran troops are getting resurgent, the Athha loyalists are almost all dead, and the _Megami_ won't be able to hide offshore under Mirage Colloid forever! We're pulling back, you guys have to as well!"

"_What?!_" Cagalli screamed. "_Pull back?!_ But we haven't— "

"We've lost!" Mwu shot back. There was a pause. "That's an order, dammit! Just pull back!"

The line cut out— Cagalli's eyes widened in horror.

"They were intercepting our transmission," Athrun explained. "We have to do as he says. We've spent too much time here as is."

"_No!_" Cagalli screamed. "We can't! We have to stay and finish this attack! If we let the Seirans win— "

"They're _already_ won!" Athrun snapped. "We had one chance to take them down in a big military operation and show the people of Orb how dangerous they are! We blew it! We didn't have enough strength to attack this position and the fighting has spilled into the city! Staying any longer will just cause us more damage!" He glanced towards the door in alarm as crashes rang behind it— soldiers were trying to break it open.

"If we leave now we'll never get a chance like this again!" Cagalli shot back. "We have to defeat them here! We can't let them control Orb! They're already dragging the country to its doom; we can't let them get any farther!" She grabbed Athrun by the collar, glowering at him. "We've come this far in order to take back Orb and have a place where we don't have to fight anymore! Now you want to turn back?! We just have to— "

"_Cagalli!_" Athrun roared, pushing her back a step. She trailed off in shock, watching him with wide eyes. "_Listen to yourself!_" he continued angrily. "You just heard that we have to retreat or we'll die! Does that not mean anything to you!? What good will we have done anyone if all we do here is get ourselves killed?!" He gestured angrily at the golden mobile suit. "We're human beings, Cagalli, not gods! You can't keep pushing us like this! The Seirans knew we were coming, they knew where we would attack, and they were prepared! We didn't have enough troops to attack this position, and now all our allies are dead and we have one window of escape left! Do you want to die here and know you couldn't accomplish anything?!"

"That's not important!" Cagalli insisted. "My life makes no difference! I'm not just doing this for myself!"

"And I'm not standing here trying to make you see reason for myself either!" Athrun shot back. "I've stood by your side ever since the day Orb was first invaded, protecting you like I said I would! Human life isn't all about politics and ideals! I'm not going to let you die in a place like this!" The door wrenched painfully under the pressure of the soldiers behind it, trying to force it open with crowbars. Athrun seized Cagalli by the arm and dragged her towards the shining machine. "We're leaving, and that is that!"

The door slammed open with a blood-curdling shriek— Athrun whirled around, tearing his two handguns out of their holsters under his arms and opening fire as a squad of Orb soldiers stormed into the room, rifles drawn.

"_Go!_" Athrun screamed, backing away as the soldiers ducked behind cover. Cagalli raced towards the ladder, leading up to the boarding gantry. Athrun focused his fire on the soldiers not shooting at him— they would be the ones to shoot at her. Up above, Cagalli leapt up onto the gantry and turned to glance down at Athrun— he howled in pain as a bullet struck him in the shoulder, and dropped the gun in his right hand. Another bullet sliced through his left leg, and he fell forward, grinding his teeth in pain.

"_Athrun!_" she screamed. The soldiers turned up towards her— she dove into the cockpit of the golden mobile suit, slamming the hatch shut. "Shit…I have to do something…" She glanced around the cockpit— its setup was nearly identical to the Strike Rouge, and she quickly brought the mobile suit online, glancing down at the startup screen. "Akatsuki…?"

The Akatsuki's eyes flashed bright blue as the mobile suit tore itself out of its restraints. Cagalli scowled down at the soldiers and tore them apart with a blaze of CIWS fire; the Akatsuki kneeled down next to Athrun, extending its left hand, and he hobbled painfully into its palm. Cagalli keyed open the frequency for the _Megami_.

"Cagalli!" Murrue exclaimed. "Where have you been?!"

"We've secured the new model," Cagalli said, as she pulled a bleeding Athrun into the cockpit. "Send someone to pick up the Justice and Rouge. Athrun is hurt; I'm coming back to the ship."

"It's about damn time!" Yzak's voice cut in angrily. "Dearka, come on! We'll get their suits and then we can go!"

Cagalli cut the line and slammed the hatch shut, glancing at Athrun as he tried to staunch the bleeding in the crash seat. "Athrun— "

"Just get back to the ship!" Athrun grunted, slapping a square of patching material over the hole in his leg.

The Akatsuki stomped forward, tearing its way out of its berth and slamming its feet down onto the floor with a crash. Cagalli looked around anxiously for a way out— she glanced up at the ceiling and took aim at the ceiling hatch with her beam rifle. Two shots and a thundering explosion later, the hatch slammed down on top of the mechanisms the Akatsuki had been ensnared by. Cagalli glanced again at Athrun; he grunted in pain as he squeezed patching material over his shoulder.

"Don't worry about me," he grunted. "Just get us back to the ship."

Cagalli looked up at the sky, dotted and crisscrossed by thick black smoke. She set her hands around the Akatsuki's controls, and took off with a roar.

Shoving the inert Strike Rouge into the hangar for the mechanics to deal with, Yzak landed the Duel with a crash on the _Megami_'s top deck, standing next to the starboard Gottfried. He glanced up ahead, watching the Orb Raiders' Murasames pull back around the ship, fighting desperately as the Seiran troops moved in.

"Where the hell _are_ they?!" Dearka barked, as the Buster landed next to the portside Gottfried and fired up at the charging Seiran Murasames with his hyper impulse cannon. "It's not like we've got all day here!"

"Cagalli said she's coming back," Andy insisted as the Aegis backed up towards the _Megami_'s dark hull. "And we can't well leave without her."

"Well she better get her ass in gear!" Yzak snapped. "Otherwise— "

A thunderous explosion cut him off— all eyes turned back towards the city, as a tower of smoke rose up from the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Dearka demanded. "I thought we were retreating!"

There was a roar of thrusters, a beam went slicing up from the smoke to skewer an unsuspecting Astray, and a blazing golden mobile suit lunged into the air.

"Jesus Christ! What is _that_?!" Yzak growled, squinting at the thing as it reflected the sunlight. 

Up ahead, watching impassively as the Seiran Murasames wheeled around to face it, the Akatsuki raised its beam rifle.

"I'll break through them," Cagalli said resolutely. Athrun eyed the oncoming mobile suits carefully— the Akatsuki roared forward, opening fire with its beam rifle and a pair of high energy cannons mounted on its backpack. Three Murasames went down in flames— the rest returned fire, and Cagalli skirted their fire, shooting back and rocketing up into the air. Another Murasame whirled around her, firing at her with its beam rifle— Cagalli turned to face it, but the beam came streaking towards her— 

…and landed harmlessly against an invisible barrier inches before the armor.

"What?!" Athrun exclaimed. Cagalli looked down in surprise at the main screen.

"'Yata no Kagami…?'" she read. "It can _deflect_ beams?"

The Murasames swept in again— Cagalli scowled and took off over the water towards the _Megami_. A wave of beam blasts from her allies tore over her head, smashing into the Seiran Murasames and forcing the survivors to retreat. The Akatsuki whirled around again, opening fire with its beam cannons and cutting down another three. A fourth Murasame swept in from the side, firing at the Akatsuki's undefended torso— again the shot bounced off, and Cagalli turned to pick the attacker off with her beam rifle. More beams came streaking towards her, but bounced harmlessly off the Akatsuki's golden armor, as she cut down the helpless attackers.

"Cagalli!" Athrun grunted. "We have to leave, now!"

Cagalli glanced back at him over her shoulder. She wanted to stay and continue to fight; it was her last chance to build something in the world at last, to carve a niche out for the two of them, for their friends, for everyone who wanted no part in the war-torn world, to prove that she could do something. But Athrun was hunched in the crash seat behind her, squeezing space suit patching material over bleeding wounds in his shoulder and leg. Her friends were already pulling back, urging her to do the same, retreating from this fortress that the Seirans had turned her beloved country into.

She looked forlornly at Orb one last time, and took off towards the _Megami_.

**Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Pacific Ocean**

"214 M1 Astrays destroyed…87 Murasames destroyed…1937 casualties reported thus far," the deckhand read from his display on the bridge of the _Takemikazuchi_. Jona sat back, hand to his chin in thought. "The Athha family terrorists were completely destroyed. Of their 189 mobile suits, 165 were destroyed, thirteen were captured, and the remaining eleven escaped. A total of 43 Athha loyalists were captured." The deckhand trailed off in confusion. "But…um…the ORB-01 Akatsuki mobile suit was stolen— "

"So she got her hands on it after all," Jona interrupted testily. "I suppose it's no matter. It's not as if one mobile suit can make that much of a difference to Orb."

"Shall we return to port to bolster the defense forces?" Todaka inquired from his place beside Jona's chair. Jona sat back, examining the _Takemikazuchi_'s massive digital map, watching the _Megami_ race away from Orb, clawing its way east.

"Continue to follow the _Megami_," he said. "They are defeated. Soon they will be crushed."

**Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean**

The main screen was emblazoned with news reports, depicting the ZAFT forces in space being torn apart by the Earth Alliance in battle at Arzachel Crater. Murrue sat back with a sigh, watching them lifelessly as Mwu entered the bridge tiredly.

"…the ZAFT forces retreated with 65 losses," the anchor intoned somberly. "The battle was also marked by treachery, in the form of famous Impulse pilot Shinn Asuka, who attacked his comrades during the battle and deserted along with an unidentified Earth Alliance unit…"

"Well, at least we aren't the only ones who have everything blowing up in our faces," Mwu muttered, coming up next to Murrue's chair and crossing his arms. Murrue glanced up at him and sighed again.

"We're heading east as fast as we can," she said. "At 1900 we'll activate the Mirage Colloid and turn north. We'll have to lie low after this."

"Try telling that to Cagalli," Mwu snorted. "She still thinks we should turn around and give it another shot."

"Well, the rest of us are here to sift through all her ideas and pick out the good ones," Murrue said, rubbing her eyes wearily. "We can't afford anything more than defensive combat right now. Not after losing all our allies in this attack."

"Should we talk to her about it?" Mwu asked, arching an eyebrow. Murrue shook her head.

"She'll learn from her mistakes," she answered. "It won't deter her, but it'll give her pause." She glanced up at Mwu. "We'll have to fight harder than ever now."

Mwu shrugged tiredly. "That's how it's always been."

A bandaged Athrun glanced dourly at Cagalli as she stared blankly at the sea from the _Megami_'s observation deck. Orb was just a dark puff of smoke on the horizon now— but either way, it was not worth looking back. That was the site of their failure, their failure to make a place for themselves, their failure to make things right. How could they return?

"I'm sorry," Athrun said quietly. Cagalli glanced at him solemnly. "I know I was snappish today. The battle just got to my head and I got caught up in it all."

Cagalli continued to gaze at him blankly for a moment, and then looked back at the sea. "It's alright," she said. "It got us out alive."

"And with a new model," Athrun added. "Every little bit helps."

Cagalli looked over at Athrun. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself. Athrun glanced at her in surprise. "…thank you," she said at last; Athrun blinked at her. "For protecting me," she went on, looking away awkwardly, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. "For staying with me." She turned her eyes back out towards the sea forlornly. "I led us all to failure and got all our allies killed, but you haven't abandoned me yet."

"You didn't lead us to failure," Athrun said, taking her by the shoulders. "As long as we're still alive, as long as _you're_ still alive, we haven't failed. The Seirans want to crush the Athhas forever. As long as we can protect you, and as long as you continue to lead us to try and find a place where we can have peace, we'll have something to fight for."

Cagalli blinked tearfully. "We…can still fight again…"

Athrun nodded painfully. "We can still fight again."

Cagalli was silent a moment, before stepping towards him, throwing her arms around him. "Just…promise me you'll still be with me for it," she whispered. Athrun blinked in surprise, watching her pull away far enough to look imploringly into his eyes. They had failed, and were tasting the bitterness of defeat— even the mighty Cagalli and her seemingly Phase Shift-armored heart had to falter sometime.

And, Athrun reflected, it was better that she faltered here, in his arms, where only he would see it.

Athrun pulled her close; she tensed up for a moment, before she relaxed into his embrace, and their lips met in a tearful kiss.

"I won't leave you to fight alone," he promised as their lips parted. "Otherwise there's nothing to fight for."

Cagalli smiled through her tears. "We'll have something together," she said. "Someday. I swear it."

They both pulled each other close and turned their eyes towards the sea.

End


End file.
